Just a little story to act on my Lilly/Scotty shipperness : It features the who gang! A new member named Bridget! : Life is hard, let's see what I come up with for this; because to be honest, I haven't really got a clear direction in mind yet...

A/N: This is set after the season finale. But it's after by like, a few months. At least. And yes, I am just making up this case as I go because to be honest, that's not the focus of my writing. I have ulterior motives. :P

Lilly Rush walked into PPD and stopped at the lockers to deposit her gun and then proceeded to enter the bullpen. As she walked through, the other detectives looked up from their work to greet her.

"Hey Lil," Kat offered.

"Sup, Rush," piped Vera.

"Hey guys. Got anything new?"

"Well, maybe if you were on time, you would know," Jeffries said teasingly.

"Sorry, I kinda overslept this morning."

Truthfully, she could blame her boyfriend for her being late to work. Her alarm had gone off that morning and her boyfriend had silenced it as he got up and gave her a light kiss on her forehead. He got up, got dressed for work, and left her a note that read:

"Babe,

I wanted you to rest, so I turned off the alarm. Don't hate me! I know you love your job, but being late one time won't hurt :)

I love you and I hope you have a great day at work!

xoxo Always and forever"

"Yeah, yeah," Kat said while handing Lilly a file to read. "Go nuts." She said.

Lilly thanked Kat and smiled as she started to read the file. Just then Stillman walked over to the group.

"Hey Lil. Glad you made in."

"Hi boss. Sorry about that."

"Any of you seen Scotty this morning?"

"Told me he had something to take care of this morning," Lil offered. "He was supposed to tell you boss…. Guess he forgot."

"Eh. That's Scotty for you."

Stillman knew exactly where Scotty was this morning. But the rest of the gang didn't and that was a good thing. That would spoil it.

"Hey boss, I'm gonna go and interview the wife again. Her alibi doesn't add up," Lilly said a little distractedly as she read the last bit of the file and started grabbing up her stuff.

"Take Jefferies with you Lil."

Jeffries promptly looked up and grabbed his jacket too.

…

…

…

Scotty was in the middle of something very important. He was at a jewelry boutique, shopping. And not just for any jewelry. He was shopping for the most important piece of jewelry any man could ever buy. Scotty was looking for an engagement ring for his girl. He's only been with this girl for a few months but he has known her for far longer. She's been there through a great deal with him; so much so that he can't remember his life without her there. He loved her more than life itself and he hoped she felt at least a portion of what he felt because tonight, he was going to ask her to dinner so he could ask her to become a step up from his girlfriend, his fiancée, and eventually, his wife.

"Can I help you with something sir?" an older man in a suit and glasses asked.

"Uh… yeah. I'm looking for an engagement ring for my girl."

"Oh.. time to take it to the next level I see," he said.

"Yeah," Scotty smiled, "she's… just… perfect."

"That's something I like to hear. Now, did you have something specific in mind?"

"Um, not really. I just want to make sure it's something she'll like. You know?"

"Yes. I do know. Why don't you tell me something about her and maybe I can suggest something for her; what does she look like? Hair color? Eye color? Interests?"

"Yeah.." Scotty said as he reached for his wallet in his pocket and pulled it out. He grabbed out a picture of Lilly making a silly kissy face in the camera with her hands on her cheeks. He passed it to the man behind the counter. "That's her," he said with the smile still on his face.

"Well, she certainly is beautiful; blonde hair, blue eyes, and I can tell she likes simple things because of the studs she's wearing," he said pointing. "Now, does she prefer gold or silver?"

"Uh.. I'm really not sure. But she wears silver more often."

"What does she do for a living?"

"Same thing I do. Philly Homicide."

"This girl…" he held up the picture, "is a homicide detective?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. First female in Philly." This is when Scotty first looked at the man's nametag. 'Landon'

"No worries there detective." He held up his left hand. "Happily married. So, back to your girl." Landon handed back the picture and looked around the many jewelry cases and picked out three different rings and spread them out on the out on the counter.

"I think one of these would be best for her. See anything you like?"

Scotty took a look at the rings and didn't really like them, until he saw the last one. It was a silver band with three exquisitely cut diamonds on it. The one in the middle was slightly larger and the two on the sides where identical to one other. The diamonds were cut into perfect circles and where so clear Scotty could see right through them.

"That one," Scotty pointed. "I like that one."

"Ah. This one is one of my favorites too. It's a little on the pricey side but each stone is three karats and the band is sterling silver."

"I'll take it."

"Aren't you gonna ask me how much it costs first?"

"No. Money is no object when it comes to getting the girl I am gonna be with forever the ring of her dreams. Plus, I've tapped into my life savings a bit."

Landon chuckled and then asked, "So this is the ring you want sir?"

"That's the one."

"Well, I like you, and your girl looks real nice, plus, you're two of Philadelphia's finest… so… I'm gonna give you a discount, and a free engraving… But don't tell anyone."

"Thanks, man. And don't worry my lips are sealed."

"Good." Landon said as he put the other rings back where they belonged before he began calculating Scotty's total.

"Alright, twenty percent off the nine thousand brings the total to be seven thousand, two hundred dollars. Will you be paying with cash, check, or card?"

"Card," Scotty replies and he goes back into his wallet, replaces the picture of Lilly and pulls out his credit card. Landon swipes the card and has Scotty sign the copy of the receipt.

"Okay. Thank you very much Detective Valens. Now.. last thing, what do you want the engraving to say?"

"Always and forever."

"That works. I can have it ready in an hour or two. So if you want to stop by then and pick it up; you're more than welcome."

"Uh. Can I pick it up after I'm off the clock? Around six work?

"Sure can. Congratulations."

"Thanks but don't congratulate me yet, I ain't got her answer yet."

….

….

….

….

"Did you get the feeling that he was hiding something?" Lilly asked her partner.

"Yeah, I did. My guess is that it's the same something that she was hiding back in '88," Will Jeffries replied as the walked back into the squad room after interviewing the widow of their victim.

"Agreed. Now we just have to find a way to get it out of her. But in the meantime, we could send someone over to talk to the son. He was only ten at the time but maybe he remembers something."

"Good idea. I'm way ahead of you. I let boss know and he sent Vera and Miller over a little while ago. So we can just got back and finish our paperwork so we're not still working at ungodly hours of the night."

Lilly giggled a little and settled back into the passenger seat while Jeffries drove back to the precinct.

When they got back to PPD, Scotty was back, busily filling out paperwork. Lilly looked over at her desk and noticed there was a fresh cup of her favorite coffee sitting there. She knew Scotty had to be behind that, so she walked over to her desk, retrieved the coffee, and then proceeded to go over to him and lean against his desk. He looked up and smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Thanks for the coffee,"

"No problem querida."

Lilly drank a sip and sighed with contentment.

"Mm, just how I like it."

Scotty smiled again and looked her up and down.

"Mm, just how I like it."

"Scotty, we're at work."

"What? When something this beautiful is in front of me you can't expect me not to take a look?"

Lilly blushed a bit and looked down with a smile on her face.

"Hey listen, I was thinkin' we could go to dinner danight."

"Like, out, out?"

"Yeah. Out, out. What about that new French place up the road? Eight o'clock?

"Sure; sounds good," Lilly said, taking another sip of her coffee, "Look, I gotta go finish up on some paper work. I'll see you tonight."

"Okay babe," he said before going back to the paperwork he was filling out. Lilly went back to her desk and sat in her chair. She set her coffee down and started riffling through some papers on her desk. For some reason, she couldn't find her documents. She continued to search for a few more minutes before she finally tossed her hands up in the air and sighed.

"Where are they?" she mumbled to herself as she began to go through the papers on her desk again. As she was doing this, Scotty walked up and asked, "Looking for something?"

"Yeah… my paperwork. I can't seem to find it. This is weird. I never lose anything…" she said distractedly.

Scotty came behind her and dropped a folder on her desk before wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek.

"Eight o'clock," he whispered and kissed her cheek again before moving away and grabbing his coat to head out the door to visit a possible witness. Lilly picked up the folder he had dropped on her desk and opened it. All her paper work was in there and completely filled out with a sticky note on the front that read:

"Lil,

I must be in a really good mood today! I let you sleep and got you out of doing paperwork! *wink* I love you! Have a great rest of the day. I am going out to do an interview; it'll take me a while. Just head on out when you're off the clock and I'll pick you up at 7:30 tonight for dinner.

See you then querida,

Scotty"

Lilly smiled, sat down and relished in how blessed she was. Her sister was doing great in rehab. Her father had come back into her life and was now taking care of her niece. She visits her family weekly and Christina, monthly. She had found a guy who didn't view her as damaged goods; someone who viewed her as his darling, his love, his "querida". Scotty had managed to do what no other man had been able to; stay around for nearly eight years. True, she had only been dating him for a few months now, but they have spent the last eight years together. The ups and the downs, they were there for each other. They we're best friends turned lovers; a living cliché. Lilly clutched at her necklace she was wearing. It was the one her father had given her; the one that was supposed to bring her luck. It certainly had. She finally had good things happening for her… and she wasn't scared. She thought she would be afraid for this to happen because of her troubled past, but she found that she wasn't scared at all. Scotty just had that affect on her. He was able to take her fear, and have it evaporate into nothingness. It just disappeared. The hatred was nearly gone too. With her new little, one-year old niece, Bridget Leanne Rush, came forgiveness for her sister and for her father. Lilly had no more reasons to hate and three new reasons to love. Her father and his family, Bridget, and of course, Scotty. After reminiscing on her newfound happiness Lilly got back to work and the rest of the day sped by. At five thirty Stillman told them that they should just go home, that they couldn't do anything further until the morning, now that Scotty had interviewed their witness. She did as she was told and left the precinct. She went home to get ready for her dinner with Scotty. It wasn't often they actually went out, out on a date so she was looking forward to getting dressed up.

…

…

…

After Scotty talked to the witness, he called Stillman and let him know what he got out of him. He told Scotty not to bother coming back to PPD and to just head home like the rest of the squad and bring in his notes tomorrow. Scotty agreed and at six thirty he was pulling up to that little jewelry boutique to pick up Lilly's ring. Landon looked up as he heard the door open.

"Detective Valens, I'm glad you made it."

"Sorry, my interview with a witness ran a little later than I expected. Is it ready?"

"It most certainly is," he replies as he pulls a small velvet box from the side, opens it, and pulls the ring from inside. He hands it to Scotty for him to look at.

"Like it?"

Scotty inspected the ring and the engraving and concluded that it was, just like Lilly, perfect.

"It's perfect. Thanks Landon."

"I'm glad you're pleased. So, you gonna ask her tonight?"

"Yeah.. Got dinner all planned out. Actually on gonna go pick her up in an hour, so I gotta go get ready. Thank again man," Scotty said with a wave as he made toward the exit.

"Good luck detective."

After leaving the jewelry store, Scotty made one last stop at little flower cart and bought Lilly a bouquet of assorted daisies; buying her lilies just seemed like too much of a pun. After picking up the daisies, Scotty arrived at his apartment with forty-five minutes left to get ready and be over at Lilly's. He took a quick shower and changed his clothes. He now wore a pale blue collared shirt with nice black pants. Scotty sprayed on some cologne and looked at his reflection in the mirror. Pleased with what he saw, he put on his jacket and put the ring in his pocket. Then, he picked up the daisies, his keys, and his phone and left to pick up Lilly.

...

...Okay... So there's the first chapter. Hope it turned out all right :) I don't really have a clear way I want to go with this to be honest... so I'll just write as inspiration comes. Hope you liked it :)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.